Sunday, October 23, 2005

I am very gosh darn sick of playing shows at the Illium. There's either no one there, or the people who are there are in their own separate worlds and don't even bother to have the decency to clap. I think I played alright, and the day got better as some friends and artists did gradually show up, but it was generally disappointing and frustrating. I wish this sort of thing didn't get to me, but it does.

Thursday, October 13, 2005

I went to Caffe Lena in Saratoga for open mic, and it was a lot of fun! There were some great and terrible performers, as all open mics will have, and a handful of people I know to hang around with. I went with Dave and Casey, who also performed, and it was generally awesome. I played but one song, the five-in-one, '5 songs of fish', and the audience seemed to find brand new ways to enjoy it. It was a wonderful experience all around!

Sunday, October 9, 2005

It was an interesting day for Nodal Nim. I had a relatively depressing and pointless gig at the Illium, in which I played for two and a half hours to entertain approximately no one (including myself) just to make $23. I wanted to leave many times, but I kept playing. I was sick of the mandolin, sick of my songs, and sick of no audience. I am not going to bother recording this set list. Nobody cares, especially not me.

But I had another show to go to after that, at the Ale House on River Street, where a bunch of local musicians were playing 25 minutes sets back to back. I went on at 10, and it was a lot of fun! I had a good time playing some of my favorite tunes for an actual audience, many of whom had never heard me before, and I sold two CDs!

I've been experimenting with effects pedals. Although it seems to sound great in my own house, I've had only dismal failures in trying to work it in the outside world. Although I will probably try to find a way to work them into Panic Dots, there's no need for them in Nodal Nim.

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I've been frustrated by not having any new songs in a while. The last new song I wrote was the theme song to Nodal Nim's Rocket Ship, and before that, 5 songs of fish. I think both of those are good songs, which is nice, but I'd like to be writing songs more frequently. I'm sick of performing the same stuff all the time. I'm hoping to write a song or two this week, even if it means skipping some open mics.

Tuesday, October 4, 2005

I forgot to mention that yesterday I did some way-fun jamming with the Marshall Twins, who will certainly appear on the next episode of Nodal Nim's Rocket Ship, which will almost certainly be released within the next couple of weeks.

George Faro and I are quite sure that our ideas about a musical collaboration (i.e. band) are meshing, and have selected the name Panic Dots for the band we are becoming. We will be seeking one more wacko, somebody who thinks like we do and wants to play percussion.

Saturday, October 1, 2005

I had a way-fun time playing in the back room at Professor Java's Coffee Sanctuary on Wolf Road in Colonie tonight! Some good friends came and a few people who hadn't seen me before, and we did some coloring and laughing and such! Hooray!